This is a truly great thought Kay (IMHO). And Dick you are right Word-Excel are diabolical for creating good plain html. I wonder if someone at Macromedia is listening, maybe there could a stripped down free DWMX lite distributed to schools to help kids learn basic html skills in the way they do best, by visual example first then slowly bring them into the code and of course CF.
Mike Brunt - CTO Webapper Services LLC Blog - http://www.webapper.net Downey CA Office 562.243.6255 AIM webappermb Web Application Specialists -----Original Message----- From: Dick Applebaum [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2002 8:35 AM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: ColdFusion for kids Some additional thoughts: Be sure to show him where/how to access CF online docs. In one of his first programs (actually a series of programs), have him create and manipulate a list of whatever interests him. It is important to use a list in application, not a textarea (where he can massage a single data entity) Point out to him that the list will disappear when his session ends. Then have him save the list to a file Next have him retrieve the file, display it in a select box Next have him add items to the end of the list Then add items to the middle of the list then delete an item then update an item in place After he is proficient with this, show him how to do this with a db rather than a flat file. So, now you have a 13-year-old who understands HTML, CFML, SQL-- watch out! Dick P.S. There is a member of this list who was/is a teenage prodigy with CF (and quite a few other web technologies) -- Dave, if you see this, you could provide some real-life experience for input! On Saturday, December 7, 2002, at 08:14 AM, Dick Applebaum wrote: > Kay > > what a great idea! > > Don't know of any existing tutorials, though. > > Just some thoughts: > > Once he learns html well enough, CF shouldn't be too hard for him-- in > fact, you may have trouble keeping up! > > The key, I think is being able to pique his interest. > > Do they have computer labs at the school he attends. > > As a challenge, you might have him try to duplicate some of the > programs they use/write in the lab, on his web site-- likely, CF/HTML > has more power and presentation capability then what they use in the > lab (excluding word, excel, etc). > > If he has friends with email accounts, set up a mailbox for him on your > site -- then have him develop a simple CF program to: > > 1) send mail > 2) maintain an address book of his friends > 3) receive mail > > This could evolve to his own little email client. > > At some early point, introduce him to a simple database, say for his > email clients > > Ask him what he would like to have on his web site -- what interests > his friends -- likely the data processing needs of a teenager are not > too different than our own. > > Does he collect anything -- write a program to keep track of it! > > If he has access to a digital camera or scanner, then have him create a > photo album/slideshow where CF and a simple db is used to store image > metadata for search, display, etc. > > He could do the same thing for his audio. > > Not really CF, but he might like playing with SVG or Flash for some > graphic & animation effects. > > A really cool capability, for when his skills have improved, is for him > to write a chat program that all his buddies can use (with secret > passwords, etc). I think there several several offerings in the tag > library that could be used as a starter. > > Then, have him write a tutorial to teach his friends, etc. > > Before long, you'll be asking him to answer questions about CF! > > I have a six-year-old grandaughter & we are email pen pals -- the kids > have no fear! > > Be sure and share the results with the rest of us! > > Dick > > > On Saturday, December 7, 2002, at 07:11 AM, Kay Smoljak wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> My little brother, who's 13, is just starting to learn HTML. I'm >> storing >> his personal site on my CF5 account. He wants his site to be cooler >> than >> anyone else's at school, so I was thinking of making him a simple CF >> tutorial - maybe using cfinclude to get a header on each page, >> displaying and formatting the current date and time, stuff like that. >> Before I do this all myself, does anyone know of anything similar >> online >> already? Or, any suggestions for what I could include? >> >> Thanks, >> Kay. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=4 FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm
